Shop Talk Live 32: Vintage Machinery Bargains and Blunders

Ever consider purchasing vintage woodworking machinery? Find out how one Fine Woodworking staffer lost out on an exceptional 100 year-old jointer and glean tips for buying used.

Every two weeks, a team of Fine Woodworking staffers answer questions from readers on Shop Talk Live, Fine Woodworking’s biweekly podcast. Send your woodworking questions to [email protected] for consideration in the regular broadcast!

Click on the link at left to listen to the podcast, or catch it in iTunes. Remember, our continued existence relies upon listener support. So if you enjoy the show, be sure to leave us a five-star rating and maybe even a nice comment on our iTunes page. And don’t forget to send in your woodworking questions to [email protected].

Shop Talk Live 32: Vintage Machinery Bargains and Blunders

On this week’s edition of Shop Talk Live, Matt Kenney discusses the ongoing search for his “dream jointer” and how an incredible vintage 20-in. jointer got away from him. Plus, we answer some top-notch handplane questions and have a bit of fun at our own expense, revealing a few of our most recent boneheaded workshop blunders!

Comments

I do have a suggestion. Perfectly fair to assume a certain amount of knowledge in the conversation, but sometimes I am sure that there are others besides me who aren't really on to the meaning of one word or another.

Examples: caul, various parts of the anatomy of a mortise and tenon or dovetail joint.

Solution: resuscitate that glossary that is moribund over there at the StartWoodworking site (I mean, do we need a definition of "door"?) Have one of your army of interns go through the podcast, find dubious words, define them in the glossary, and put a link for each word on the list in your blog.

Then, when you have another aspiring intern, turn him or her loose on providing illustrations or pictures to go with all the words in the glossary that would benefit from it.

Hello, Burled-Johnson here, thanks for reading my comment, glad you all thought it was funny! My last name is in fact Johnson, and I love when Nick Offerman talks of burled walnut on Parks and Rec, so that's where it all came from. Again, love the podcast- great work.

I'm a machinist by trade and all my on a stand wood working machines were bought used except for my miter saw. Example: I bought an 8" jointer that looked real nice and the shop owner sold it to me for less than half price after only two years of use. I tried it out and it worked OK, and being a machinist I thought I'll fix any little problem that may surface. I took it home on my pickup but had to dismantle it to shoot it up to my second floor shop. That's when I saw shims in the dovetails and I thought "not good". That's a hard fix, darn. After dismantling and a close inspection I noticed that paint had dripped, from the factory, and hardened on the dovetail surfaces for the adjustable feed tables. The shop owner must not have noticed that. I'm guessing that he must have figured out that it was a defective machine and was glad to see it go. I cleaned off the paint and the tables lined up perfectly. I scored on that one:). Whew
Thanks for show.
Chuck

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Tim Coleman’s shop, located just steps from the front door of his house, is filled with beautiful machinery— some vintage, some modern—well-loved hand tools, and more than a few of his favorite bicycles.